Saturday, July 21, 2007

Zucchini and baby beets

For dinner tonight: Buttermilk marinated pork chops with a dried cranberry pan sauce, and from the garden, red and gold baby beets cooked in OJ, and sauteed zucchini with onion and nutmeg. YUM.

The zucchini is a new variety for me, Costata Romanesco from FEDCO. According to the catalog, it is "deeply striped and ribbed, [and] resembles Cocozelle, but its sweet mildly nutty flavor is distinctive. Also a productive source for tasty male squash blossoms. Tender skin damages easily, a liability for commercial transport." I really liked the shape of the slices, the ribs made the squash look scalloped, and the flavor was fabulous. Was it the variety or the cooking method?

The beets were also fabulous. If I'd known beets could taste like this, I'd have been eating them long, long ago. All those wasted years.... Time to make up lost ground, I say!

2 comments:

Funny, I had always been scared of eating beets. Never had them growing up. My husband has thought I am a weenie. On finally tasting them recently I was surprised at how tasty they were, too. Better late than never, right?

I adore home grown beets! I like to roast them with a little olive oil and some sea salt. Yum. I think the thing I really love is the taste of the earth that comes through!We've also been there with the mint. I do love it, but it wants to take over the world. I agree with the idea of a pot far away from your garden area. Good luck! Your dinner looks fabulous.